Tek4L

reblogging

http://www.reblog.org/

http://marc.blogs.it/archives/2005/06/announcing_rebl.html

Lots of potential here for integration with eportfolio type tools, seems like the ideal way to handle the collect, select, reflect process.

The latest version of ELG is looking good. They have a very similar view to the Interact Development team as to where online learning platforms should be heading. The days of the 'LMS' are over.

Worth a look

http://www.nvu.com/

At last a cross platform open source html editor that also includes some website management tools. Haven't had an extensive play, but on the surface looks quite good.

Following on from previous post on digital portfolios
, as I mentioned it was pleasing to see that my thoughts on what a digital portfolio should be aligned with someone more expert in the field.

In my view a digital portfolio should primarly be a tool to help students in their reflective learning journey, and as a tool to creatively express where they have been, where they have arrived at on any particular moment in time, and where they are heading.

When you look at most of the existing portfolio projects, particularly larger ones that are directed by higher education, then the focus is much more on an 'assessment tool', ie. lets set up a way for a student to easily prove they have met our learning outcomes that we can easily assess, and this focus is clearly visible in the way that students are forced down a narrow road of filling out templates that have been pre-defined by lecturing staff, but lets allow them some creativity by letting them change the background colour

In this environment the portfolio will just become another trendy new assessment tool. The first time students encounter it they will think, "this is cool, I don't have to write an essay, I can create a portfolio for my assessment". But after their 3rd or 4th course they will start wishing they could just write a 2000 word essay for the final assessment rather than having to do yet another 'portfolio'.

Although assessment is obviously a crucial component of higher education (I won't debate how valid it is at this stage) I think that wherever possible the dull and boring process of assessment should be separated from the idea of a "learning portfolio". I think Helen is on the right track with her ideas that the student should have a digital archive of learning artifacts, and there should be the ability for the student to easily select certain artifacts for submission for assessment, but this should be seen as a separate function to selecting and reflecting on these artifacts for the purpose of creating a portfolio 'for learning'.